Maryland Hosts Pitt for Mid-Week Contest

Maryland Athletics

10-29-2013

Maryland (11-11, 3-7 ACC) looks to rebound from a tough weekend in North Carolina as it hosts Atlantic Coast Conference newcomer Pittsburgh in Comcast Pavilion Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The contest will be the Terps' third conference match in seven days.

Fans are encouraged to wear a costume to the game -- the person with the best costume will receive a $25 gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings!

Event Multimedia Links

All media links pertaining to the match can be found on the Maryland volleyball schedule page by clicking here.

Maryland volleyball is on Instagram! Follow "MarylandVolleyball" on Instagram for exclusive access of the program.

Promotion Schedule

The Maryland athletics marketing department has put together a fantastic promotional schedule for fans of all ages this season! Check out the list below for all promotions (time/date subject to change.) Posters and schedule cards will be available at every match!

Scouting the Terps

The Terps were just five points away from picking up a hallmark victory against No. 14 North Carolina last weekend, before they succombed in the final few points of the fifth set. The loss was dissapointing for Maryland, but it proved the Terps' ability to belong with the conference's best teams as it held the 20-1 Tar Heels to a meager.159 hitting percentage.

Junior Ashleigh Crutcher is quickly regaining her form after missing a month to injury, having tallied 28 kills, 10 digs and nine blocks in last weekend's roadtrip. Meanwhile, freshman Ashlyn MacGregor was dominant at the net defensively, tallying 11 blocks against NC State and 17 on the weekend.

Despite the pair of losses, Maryland's improved blocking ability can not be understated. The Terps topped a 14.5 block performance against North Carolina with a season-high 19 blocks against NC State the following night. The tremendous weekend propelled the team to 13th nationally in blocks/s (2.86), while it remained number one in the ACC.

Scouting the Panthers

Wednesday marks Pittsburgh's first trip to College Park since 1995, when it defeated the Terrapins 3-1. This will be the first and last meeting as ACC foes between the pair of sides, as Maryland leaves for the Big Ten Conference next season.

Pitt totaled 76 digs as a team at N.C. State last Friday, setting a single-match high for the season. Delaney Clesen led the Panthers with 21 digs, while Jessica Wynn and Jenna Jacobson each had 13. That marked a career high for Jacobson. Pitt also posted a season-high 18.0 total team blocks against the Wolfpack. Jenna Potts had the team high in that category with 10, while KeKe Irby chipped in seven. Both totals tied their personal bests.

Block Party

After a tremendous weekend at the net, the Terrapins retained their hold as the ACC's best blocking team at 2.86 blocks/s. They also rank 13th nationally. After notching 14.5 blocks against #14 North Carolina, the Terps had a season-high 19 against NC State.

Key to the success has been the middle play of sophomore Kelsey Hrebenach and freshman Ashlyn MacGregor. MacGregor's monster weekend of 17 blocks pushed her to third in the conference (1.31), while Hrebenach ranks ninth (1.21).

Digging Milestone

Senior Sarah Harper rarely grabs the headlines for her dirty work on defense, but the libero has been nothing short of consistent this season for the Terps. Harper surpassed the 1,600 career digs mark last weekend, and currently ranks second in Maryland history with 1,603.

Harper leads the ACC with 4.80 digs/s and is just 65 digs away from the Maryland all-time record.

Regaining Form

Junior Ashleigh Crutcher is steadily regaining her form as one of the conference's top hitters, tallying 28 kills last weekend in North Carolina. The All-American missed a month due to an ailing injury, but returned two weekends ago. She will be counted on by the Terps in the weeks to come.

Moving Up

With her 10th and final kill against Miami, senior Mary Cushman surpassed Elizabeth Efron ('95-'97) for fifth all-time on the Maryland career kills list. Cushman currently has 1,231 kills to her name.

If Cushman continues to collect kills at her current rate, she will likely finish fourth all-time in Maryland history.

Hreben-Block

Sophomore Kelsey Hrebenach tallied 12 blocks (1s, 11a) in the Terps' four-set victory over Virginia, becoming the first Maryland player to accomplish the feat since 2011. The mark is tied for the highest this season in the conference for a four-set match.

Maryland had 31 blocks as a team on the weekend, including 18 against Virginia. The 18 blocks is a season-high for the Terps.

Conference Honors

Freshman Ashlyn MacGregor was named ACC Freshman of the Week for career-best efforts against Virginia and Virginia Tech in October. It is MacGregor's first career conference honor.

The freshman had a memorable weekend at the net, hitting at a .447 clip with 20 kills and 11 blocks over the course of two matches. MacGregor's 12 kills against Virginia Tech were a career-high.

Tim Horsmon is in his sixth season in charge of the Maryland volleyball team and earned his 300th career victory against Georgia Tech earlier this season. All three coaches in Maryland volleyball history garner at least 300 career victories.

Reaching 1,000

Senior Mary Cushman eclipsed 1,000 career kills against UMKC on September 6, joining an elite club of Maryland volleyball players. The senior outside hitter finished the weekend with 33 kills and earned tournament MVP honors the following weekend. She is one of just eight players in Maryland history to record at least 1,100 kills and 600 digs.

2013 Maryland Record...

Maryland

Tendency

Overall Record

11-11

Home

9-2

Away

1-5

Neutral

1-3

ACC Record

3-7

ACC Record at Home

3-3

ACC Record on Road

0-4

2012 NCAA Tournament Teams

1-5

Ranked Teams

0-4

In Three Sets

6-6

In Four Sets

2-2

In Five Sets

3-3

On Tuesday

0-0

On Wednesday

0-0

On Thursday

0-0

On Friday

5-5

On Saturday

5-3

On Sunday

1-3

When Winning Set 1

6-3

When Losing Set 1

3-7

When Winning Set 2

5-0

When Losing Set 2

3-10

When Winning Set 3

9-3

When Losing Set 3

0-7

When Winning Set 4

3-2

When Losing Set 4

1-3

Leading in Kills

8-3

Trailing in Kills

3-8

Tied in Kills

0-0

Leading in Errors

0-7

Trailing in Errors

11-4

Tied in Errors

0-0

Leading in Hitting Pct.

11-1

Trailing in Hitting Pct.

0-10

Tied in Hitting Pct.

0-0

Hitting .300 or better

3-0

Hitting .250-.299

2-0

Hitting .200-.249

4-3

Hitting .150-.199

1-4

Hitting .149 or below

1-6

Opponent Hit .300 or better

0-0

Opponent Hit .250-.299

0-2

Opponent Hit .200-.249

1-2

Opponent Hit .150-.199

2-4

Opponent Hit .149 or below

7-0

Leading in Service Aces

6-2

Trailing in Service Aces

2-6

Tied in Service Aces

3-3

Leading in Digs

6-2

Trailing in Digs

4-9

Tied in Digs

1-0

Leading in Blocks

9-3

Trailing in Blocks

1-6

Tied in Blocks

1-2

Media InformationTerps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to umterps.com.

Live Stats: Follow Terps games live in 2013 on your computer. Links for all games that will be available can be found at umterps.com.